


Orange Slices

by Trisdani



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trisdani/pseuds/Trisdani
Summary: "You're such a soccer dad. I can't believe you packed orange slices." In which a little girl thinks Calum would be perfect for helping her mom in finding a happily ever after.
Relationships: Calum Hood/Original Character(s), Calum Hood/Original Female Character(s), Luke Hemmings & Original Character(s)
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

"Today at Campbelltown Stadium, we have Australia's National Women's Soccer Team playing off against Norway's National Women's Soccer Team." The television and speakers buzzed to life. The four glanced at the two announcers on the screen talking about their thoughts and predictions about the upcoming lineup. "Ah, yes, and a special half time performance by 5 Seconds of Summer!" One announcer cheered.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Ashton asked as he raised the volume on the tv in the corner. He put the remote down and picked his drumsticks back up and started tapping on his practice pad.

"Didn't Norway win last year?" Luke asked, remembering the specific and highly anticipated game at the last World Cup. The match had ended with a tie and had to be broken in a shootout that led to Norway's victory.

Calum quickly interjected, "actually Australia would've scored in the last ten minutes if Norway's defense hadn't fouled Anderson. She was strong that whole game until that moment."

"Oh, to be Calum right now," Micahel chuckled, "to be so close to talking to his celebrity crush yet so far."

"I don't have a crush on her." Calum frowned. Crush would be a strong word for someone who he just admired for their skill. Anyone would be crazy to not be a fan of the great Shelby Anderson. 

"Whenever a sport is brought up you always mention her. It's like she's the only athlete that is worth your attention," Ashton called out.

"She's a badass. Not to mention an incredible player. Did you know last season she scored the most goals and assists of the whole... you guys don't care," he stopped shortly watching the few unamused expressions come from his mates. 

"We never said that," Michael laughed. "You're just not helping your case of proving that you don't have a crush."

"Believe what you want to believe," Calum grumbled, "I'm just going to watch the game and watch Anderson kick ass."

"Woah, that's a cool guitar," a little voice beside him said. Calum jumped, looking over to see a little girl watching him in amazement. "Do you know hot cross buns?" She asked.

He looked at the little girl sitting next to him in a yellow jersey, cocking an eyebrow, he glanced around looking for some responsible looking adult. "Uh, do I know hot cross buns? Well, it's only the best song out there." He played simply, suppressing a laugh as the little girl's eyes grew. "Want me to show you how to play it?"

The girl nodded excitedly. Calum took the strap off his shoulder and started telling her the chords and where to put her fingers. "Yeah, right there. Now pluck the string like this," he demonstrated, her following soon after. "Look at you!" He praised, "at this rate, you'll be replacing me on that stage."

"Cal, where did the kid come from?" Luke looked over at the two, confused. Calum just responded with a shrug and Luke went back to watching the game.

"This is fun," she giggled, "my mommy's going to be so amazed when I tell her I can play hot cross buns on the guitar!"  
"Well, this isn't actually your typical kind of guitar, it's a bass," Calum said.  
"A vase?" The girl tilted her head, confused.

"A bass," he corrected.

"Yeah, a vase," she nodded, "My mommy said she likes vases, those are the people who can play a vase. My mommy would like you."

"Yeah," Calum gave in. He glanced around the room for another time, "so where is your mommy? And should you be back here?"

"I'm supposed to be with miss Kayla cause my mommy is busy working right now."  
"You should probably go back to miss Kayla before you get into trouble."

"Yeah," the girl looked down and pouted before looking up again and grinning. "You should come with me! I can ask Kayla if you can sit with us for the rest of the game."

"Oh no, that's alright. I'll go with you to miss Kayla but I have to be back down here cause I have to do my job." Calum got up and put his bass down. 

"Ooh, what's your job?"

"I'm in a band and I play the bass."

"You're a vases!"

"Yes, exactly," Calum quietly laughed. The little girl took his hand and led him up a few flights of stairs. "How far are your seats, if you don't mind me asking?" He questioned. At this point he was wondering if the girl was just taking him up to the roof. 

Eventually they got to a hallway with a bunch of doors. One door was open and the girl let go of his hand and ran straight in. Calum was then left in the hallway, checking to see if the little girl was with her safe guardian would be the responsible thing to do. But, he was hoping that he could try to retrace his steps back to his band.

"See, there's the vase man I'm talking about," he thankfully heard the little girl's voice call out again.

"Excuse me?" He heard a young woman's voice behind him. He turned around and saw the little girl with a woman who was much older than him.

"Hello," Calum waved awkwardly.  
The woman laughed nervously, "I hope Charlie didn't bother you for too long. I should've kept a better eye on her."

"No, you're fine," Calum dismissed, "she's a great kid. Now I would love to chat more but I really need to get back downstairs."

"Uh, yeah thank you again." She looked down to the little girl, Charlie, who was tugging on her jersey. "If you'd like, you can come back up here to watch the second half. Charlie seems to like you."

"I'll think about it," Calum smiled. He waved goodbye to Charlie and finally went off on his adventure back to the band before halftime started.


	2. Chapter 2

The set felt like it was going a lot faster than usual for Calum. In the midst of the song, he couldn’t help but look up at the fan packed stadium. He didn’t know what he was looking for until he saw the little girl dancing in the yellow jersey. He couldn’t help the smile that etched itself onto his face till the end of the song. 

When they began to head off the makeshift stage, Michael ran over to Calum, almost knocking him down. “Number nineteen was looking at you the whole time and you didn’t even look in her direction.”

“Number nineteen,” Calum questioned, he looked over at the bench, making eye contact with the number nineteen. “Oh my f—“

Michael slapped a hand over his mouth. “No, don’t look that’s just awkward.”

“One girl looks at him and he looks like he’s about to pass out,” Ashton jokes.

“Thousands of girls look at him and they pass out.”

“You guys really aren’t helping my confidence right now,” Calum spoke more quietly as they were now passing the team. The band sent out a few good lucks to the team applauding them. He sent a small smile to number nineteen at the end. He wanted to think that he had the effect to make the blush creep up her tanned cheeks, but it was more likely from exhaustion and the sun.

“She was still looking at you when we passed,” Michael said when they were farther away.

“Yeah, and I was looking back at her. For playing a full 45 minutes, she’s fucking stunning,” Calum gushed. “Oh my god, Shelby Anderson might possibly be aware of my existence.”

“Well that was an experience. Oh look, Cal’s number one fan is running up.”

Calums eyes widened at the sight of the little girl shouting “vase man” in his direction. “You’re coming with me,” she cheered

Calum sent a panicked look towards his band mates, only one who responded with some kind of reaction was Ashton. “I got you Cal,” he took the bass from Calum's hands and patted his back. “Have a good time!”

“Anyone else wondering why that girl is running around down here and not being stopped by security?” Luke asked.

“Daughter of one of the players?” Ashton wondered.

“Her jersey says Anderson.”

“Half the jerseys in this stadium says Anderson,” Michael pointed out. 

Luke looked back to the teams that were now doing stretches on the field. “We can google it. See if Calum is going to somehow get himself that dream girl of his.”

Meanwhile, Calum was dragged back up to the top seats. They were in a box that looked over the whole field. There was even a television playing commercials and a mini fridge sat off to the side. 

“You’re back,” the older woman said. She was sitting on a cushioned chair, sipping a Diet Coke.

“Yeah, didn't waste much time until this one took me away,” he gestured to Charlie who smiled up at him.

The woman laughed, “Charlie is a pretty adventurous child, she gets it from her mom.” She paused for a moment before getting up to shake his hand. “Oh my goodness, I haven’t introduced myself yet. Hi, I’m Kayla, Charlie’s aunt.”

“Calum,” he shook her hand. “I’m the stranger who taught her hot cross buns on bass,” he chuckled.

“And so she’s told me.” She casted a look at the kid who was spinning on a nearby chair. “Was that your group performing out there? I probably shouldn’t say this in case my sister is embarrassed but she absolutely loved your band when she was in high school.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” The thought of someone that had listened to the band in their teen years and is now a mother did get the wheels in his head turning, but he thought he shouldn’t judge on how old the mother could be.” How old is Charlie?” He asked.

“She’s five. She’s kinda in that moment where she thinks everything is awesome and wants to do it all.”

Charlie hopped off the chair stumbling a bit, obviously pretty dizzy. “When do we get to see mommy?”

“Soon, just wait.” Kayla picked up the squirming girl and held her in her lap. Calum smiled. He looked over the field to see the two teams now going back to their lineup positions. He frowned a bit when he saw that one of the stronger forwards got subbed out. “Looks like the coach is switching up the lineup a bit,” Kayla commented.

Calum nodded, “I think they’d have better luck with subbing out the wings and center defense. They’re moving more slowly, clearly exhausted, and aren’t moving the ball fast enough for the forwards to get it.”

“I didn’t take you as the type who knew much about soccer.”

“I played a bit when I was in high school,” he said, “I’ve also been keeping up with the season's highlights since the World Cup.”

“Oh, yeah,” Kayla sighed. “That loss was awful. We were so close if it wasn’t for that foul at the end.”

“Yeah, but I’m glad she recovered fast enough to get back to practicing for this season,” Calum said. “She’s killing it. She’s scored the most goals and assists of this season so far.”

“You know, at first glance, I would’ve assumed that your fascination with Anderson would only be because she’s a hot athlete with a bikini fit body, but you seem to be overlooking that and more on her playing,” Kayla jokes. 

“She is beautiful but she also didn't work as hard as she did when being brought up to the national team, just to have boys ogling at her body.”

Kayla looked Calum up and down. “You should ask Anderson out. A kind, good looking musician like you? Who wouldn’t say no?”

“Oh, that’s very nice of you, but I don’t think someone like her would be very interested in someone like me.” Calum shut down the conversation before it had room to go anywhere else. He put his focus back on the game where the ball was being passed through the formations.

“Hey, vase guy?” Charlie tugged on Calum's sleeve.

“You know you can call me Calum?” He turned his head, giving the girl all his attention 

“You’re really nice,” she said softly. “My mommy doesn’t meet really nice guys like you often. Will you meet her please?”

“Well,” he looked up at Kayla who frowned a bit at Charlie.

“She’ll be up here a while after the game’s over. We don’t want to keep you in here if you have some busier schedule,” Kayla explained. 

Calum bit the inside of his cheek, looking down at the little girl who was giving him the most adorable puppy look. “I guess I could stay a bit.”

Charlie bounced excitedly, giving his arm a hug. “Thank you Calum!”

Calum then found himself smiling down at the girl for the hundredth time that day. “Of course,” he said. Then, turning his attention back to the last few moments of the game.


	3. Chapter 3

A while after the game had ended with a last minute goal scored by one of the center midfielders, Charlie was dancing happily around the box. "We won! We won!" She chanted.

"If only she was this enthusiastic at her own games," Kayla chuckled.

"She plays?" Calum questioned. Imagining the kid running around a field and somehow never getting tired with the unlimited amount of energy she has shown today.

"Plays as well as any five year old can."

Suddenly Charlie stopped and gasped at the woman who had appeared at the door. "Mommy!" She squealed, running up to her.

"Hey, baby girl!" She picked Charlie up and held her in her arms. Calum looked over to see the girl with tanned skin and bright green eyes. She looked over at him and her cheeks flushed. "Hey, you winked at me as your band passed the benches," the one and only, Shelby Anderson said to him.

Calums breath got caught in his throat realizing that the woman took on a whole different level of beauty when he saw that she was just wearing a sweatshirt and joggers. "No, I'm pretty sure I just smiled," he chuckled nervously. He casted a glance at Kayla who stood off to the side with a sly smirk on her face.

"A smile paired with quite a flirty wink," Shelby started, "I hate to break it to you rockstar, but the soccer pitch is not the best place for flirty looks."

"Sorry," he muttered, not sure what the tone of their conversation was at.

She laughed and instantly Calum was relieved. "Shelby Anderson," she held out her hand, introducing herself.

"Calum Hood, and may I just say I'm a huge fan of yours," he blurted out all at once. "Oh my god, your dribbling skills are unbelievable and I don't know how you do it but you somehow find the right corner to shoot at without even looking at the goal."

She smiled wide, watching one of her heroes talk about her with such admiration. "If we're geeking out to each other right now then can I talk about you," Shelby asked. "For one, your band's music is great. Two, I tried to learn bass and gave up after a few months, props to you for being a god at that. Three, you're talented and good looking, I'm sorry but that just adds some brownie points to the mix."

"May I ask brownie points towards what?" Calum questioned, interested in whatever she was talking about.

"Brownie points towards the internal conflict in my head that can't decide if I want to give you my number or not."

Calum was very interested in what she was talking about. "Well I'm all for that, but of course that's your choice. I can give you my number and you can make the decision of whether you'd like to text me or not"

"I'll take that into consideration, rockstar."

"Mommy, I like him, can we please keep him?" Charlie tugged on her sleeve.

Shelby looked down at her daughter and laughed. "We'll see if we like him after he asks me out." She then nodded to her sister, "ready to head home?"

"Just waiting for you," Kayla replied.

Shelby looked back at Calum, "it was nice meeting you. Thanks for performing and staying to watch the game," she said. "See you later?"

"Yeah, I— see you later."

After the conversation, Shelby and her family left. Calum wasn't really sure what happened next because in no time he was in the car with the rest of the band and their manager. Michael and Luke were on their phones while Ashton stared at Calum for an uncomfortably long time.

"Say, are we sure Calum wasn't drugged? He still looks a bit out of it," he mumbled, poking him a bit.

Calum pulled his arm away from the annoying ashton. "I'm not drugged. I just met Shelby Anderson—" he paused, "actually I take that back, I may be drugged. No way that happened."

Luke looked up from his phone smiling, nudging Michael a bit, "Mike, you owe me."

Michael shook his head. "No, he said he may be drugged. He could have imagined it," he pointed. "I'm not paying until they're married." He then turned to face Calum. "You are not getting married to Shelby Anderson."

"But I am one step closer," he muttered.

"I call being best man," Ashton yelled out.

"Woah," Michael cut in. "Hypothetically, if Calum got married. I would obviously be best man," he looked over to the bassist, "right?"

Calum held his hands up in the air in defense. "Listen, I just met her today. As much as a fantasy it sounds like to be with her; I doubt that we will actually see eachother again." He suddenly felt a series of vibrations coming from his phone. He grabbed it and almost fainted when he looked at his twitter dm's.

***

Anderson19: i was really bold earlier, i am so sorry.

Anderson19: i'm about 99.9% sure i read the conversation wrong and flat out assumed you wanted to ask me out.

Anderson19: 16 year old me really do be thriving tho.

Calum5SOS: oh hi!

Anderson19: hi how are you?

Calum5SOS: im good, you?

Anderson19: great, totally not having a mental breakdown about you right now.

Calum5SOS: i kinda relate. my mates don't believe that i actually met you and did not pass out.

Calum5SOS: im a bit of a... fanboy

Anderson19: well i guess you could call me a bit of a... fangirl

Calum5SOS: omg look at us!

Calum5SOS: legends supporting legends!

Anderson19: wow. just wow.

Calum5SOS: anyways, i never gave you my number earlier.

Calum5SOS: *** *** ****

Calum5SOS: do whatever you would like with it, just don't leak it cause that is something i would not like to deal with right now.

Anderson19: wow i have calum hood's number

Calum5SOS: wow i gave shelby anderson my number

Anderson19: now before we take it to the next level of texting, i need to tell you something.

Calum5SOS: oh okay

Anderson19: i have a lot of crazy boyfriends and have this weird habit of committing to a relationship really fast.

Anderson19: im not saying that i want to be in a relationship with you, but i want to be in relationship with you.

Anderson19: whether or not you feel the same way, i'd like to try to get to know you and be friends with you before i can be sure that i actually like you.

Anderson19: is that okay?

Calum5SOS: of course!

Calum5SOS: you are one of my celebrity crushes so i completely understand and id love to get to know you.

Anderson19: great! im going to go text you now

Anderson19: wait did you just say that i am one of your celebrity crushes?

Calum5SOS: i shall await your text


	4. Chapter 4

"Line up!"

All the girls had jogged over to the goal line, getting in position to run. They anxiously awaited for the coach to blow her whistle. Their cleats shredded the grass beneath them, leaving imprints of mud on the field. They ran from the goal box and back. To the halfway line and back.To the other side of the field and back. And they continued on until their coach had said enough.

Training was exhausting as any other day was. They were preparing for an upcoming game that was going to be held in Ireland in two weeks and they needed to win. Right now all the team could think about was the upcoming game.

"Alright that's time. Lisa picks up the cones. Caitlin the nets," Their coach barked.

The rest of the girls had picked up their water bottles and left for the locker rooms. Shelby was walking a bit more quickly than others because she had somewhere to be.

"Woah, slow down. You're making us all look bad," Laney, one of her teammates said. She was walking in the back of the group and too tired to move any faster.

"Sorry, gotta go see my kid go kick some ass," she yelled.

She heard a few awes from the rest of the team. She wasn't the only mother, but she was definitely the youngest of the few.

She finally got to the locker rooms and quickly changed out of her training gear and threw it in a mesh sack to get washed later. She grabbed her bag and headed out, checking her phone for the few notifications she has. She stopped short in the parking lot, seeing a few from the Calum Hood himself. He had followed her on twitter and instagram, and liked a few of her photos. Shelby smiled to herself and finally texted his number.

***

*** *** ****: hey are you doing anything today? more specifically, 11 ?

Rockstar: sorry, i think you have the wrong number

*** *** ****: it's Shelby

Rockstar: Anderson?

Maybe Shelby: duh

Rockstar: hi!

Shelby F***in Anderson: hi now back to my original text

Shelby F***in Anderson: "hey are you doing anything today? more specifically, 11 ?"

Rockstar: my schedule is open all weekend.

Shelby F***in Anderson: great, would you like to come with me to my daughters game?

Shelby F***in Anderson: sorry if that's weird

Shelby F***in Anderson: it's really short like each half is about twenty minutes

Shelby F***in Anderson: you don't have to if you don't want to

Rockstar: yes, I want to witness the future hall of fame champ in person before she gets too good and will start charging people thousands of dollars to just be in her presence

Shelby F***in Anderson: you're making her sound like such a diva omg you've only talked to her a few times, how do you know this

Rockstar: she gives off that vibe

Rockstar: also, would it be weird to admit that if charlie wasn't such a diva and dragged me to sit with her during that game, we wouldn't be talking right now?

Shelby F***in Anderson: Charlie, my wing woman

Rockstar: the real mvp

Shelby F***in Anderson: alright I'm gonna send my address, be there at 10:30 at the latest or else we'll leave without you.

Rockstar: see ya :)

Shelby F***in Anderson: :)

***

Shelby had put her phone away and started her car. Driving home quickly so she could take a shower and get dressed before Calum showed up. When she had walked in through the door, she could smell breakfast and hear Charlie and her sister laughing at whatever.

"How was practice?" Kayla asked, when she saw her enter the kitchen.

"Exhausting," she said. Looking over at Charlie who had syrup dripping down her chin, "I think you missed your mouth, Char." She grabbed a few paper towels and started to clean up the small mess.

"It's about nine forty-five, want to eat anything before we start getting ready?" Kayla asked, already flipping another pancake onto a plate.

"I'm gonna take a shower first, set aside a plate for me?" She kissed Charlie's cheek that was now clean. "Aslo, I invited Calum Hood to watch Charlie play, so he should be here a bit before ten thirty," she said all at once before leaving the room.

"Shelby, don't act like I wasn't expecting this!" Kayla said loud enough for her to hear from down the hall. Kayla sighed, looking over at Charlie who was just finishing her juice. "What would your mom do without me?"

"She'd still be awesome but more in a messy way," Charlie giggled.

"Yeah, if only you could eat in a less messy way," Kayla commented at the new spot of syrup on her face. "Go get dressed, your vase guy is coming over in a short while."

"The vase guy?" Charlie gasped. She slid off her chair and ran to her room to do what Kayla was hoping she'd get dressed.


	5. Chapter 5

If Calum were to be honest, he had no idea why Shelby had invited him. They had only briefly been talking for about two weeks. He’d say that they were just mutuals, not nearly close enough to be friends. And to say that he met and got a follow from Shelby Anderson, well he felt fulfilled, happy, and satisfied with just that. So when he got the “are you free?” text on his very non eventful Saturday morning, he couldn’t help but feel this child like giddiness to see her again.

Shelby had sent him her address in the texts. About a few minutes before ten thirty he had pulled up right in front of the house, his nervousness suddenly kicking in.

He knocked shortly on the wooden door for it to quickly swing open, leaving his hand frozen in the air. Shelby appeared in front of him, smiling. “It’s about time. We were starting to worry that you wouldn’t show up,” she said, opening the door a bit wider.

He shoved his hand in his pocket instead of leaving it hanging. “Well you said I should be here before ten thirty,” Calum states. He’s rather sure that he was very on time and not at all late.

“Yeah, but— okay well uhm. We should get going, right? Charlie is getting her socks out of the dryer. Come inside, please.”

Calum stepped into the entryway that led straight to the kitchen. He followed Shelby down to where Kayla was sitting by the counter and packing away some food into a templeware container. She glanced up and smiled. Charlie ran in wearing a soccer jersey that was an ugly shade of orange. If he was watching from far away, he’d say that she looked like a running traffic cone. 

“Oh, there’s the soccer star. You gonna win today?” he asked the walking tangerine.

Charlie nodded with a grin. “I’m gonna score a hat trick just like mommy!”

“Wow! Just like her? C’mon, I bet you can do better than that,” he teased, throwing a side glance at Shelby.

“Woah, there. You think I’m just gonna invite some rockstar, bucket hat and all, into my house just to inflate my daughters already growing ego.”

“What? You expect me to lie?”

“You guys are cute,” Kayla awed from beside the fridge, “and as much as I’d like to stay and watch you two try to flirt with one another as a five year old is in your presence, I need to go home.”

Shelby stifled a growing smile. “Thank you for that unnecessary comment,” she glanced at Calum who wasn’t much better at hiding a creeping blush. “See you Friday.”

“Bye sissy!” Kayla left, slamming the front door shut. 

Now leaving the two adults in silence. They both looked at one another. Charlie spoke up, “are we going yet?”

Shelby looked over to the time that was placed right above the oven. It was just about ten thirty, the time she was hoping to leave by. “Yeah, you got your cleats and shinguards?” She asked, to which Charlie responded by holding up both. She nodded, “alright, let’s go!”

Calum was weirded out by how natural it felt to be in the car with Shelby and Charlie. He found the kid’s rambling about beating the opposing team adorable and the mother's comments about being respectable admirable. Despite only having spent a limited time with the two, he loved their energy.

***

“Alright, so be honest with me,” Calum started out. He took the unfolded Shelbys chair before setting up his own, letting her sit first. “Do the other soccer moms have some type of grudge against you or something?” The two looked over to where all the other mothers were sitting with their husbands and other supporters. It’s not like they secluded from the others, but there definitely was a noticeable distance between them. “I mean, are they jealous that Charlie’s skill simply outshines their own children or…”

“Don’t know I guess,” she shrugs, “they don’t really think I belong here. The first time all the parents met, they assumed I was Charlie’s older sister.” She sat down, urging Calum to do so as well. “But maybe I like to think they don’t like me because Charlie really does outshine the rest of the kids.”

“That has to be the reason,” Calum agrees. “I mean look at her.” He pointed to the kid running around with the other girls, toe-poking the ball into the small goal. “I mean that just screams talent. I’m surprised she doesn’t have a scholarship for SUSFC yet.”

“Give her a couple years and we’ll see if she actually stays interested in soccer. I don’t want to be one of those crazy mom’s who forces their child to do what they’re really not interested in. And just because I went somewhere with soccer, doesn’t mean she will.”

“I will not lie, I was expecting to be having this type of conversation with you this soon.”

“What? Talking about my child’s future? C’mon, we’ve been friends for a few weeks haven’t we?” She punches the side of his arm in a friendly way.

“Wasn’t expecting to have this conversation in general, actually,” he confesses.

“That’s valid,” Shelby hummed, watching the small teams of little girls line up into their not so organized positions. “Moving onto a different topic… What are you doing next week?” She asked. “Just wondering if you’re free or not, cause I maybe want to spend time with you.”

Calum frowns, “my mates and I have a meeting and I’m pretty sure we’re going to be spending all of Saturday in the studio. I may be free for a little while on Sunday but I have to be back with my family for dinner.”

“Busy guy, huh?”

“A bit,” he chuckled, “can I invite you and Charlie to dinner at my place next Monday? It’ll have to be early in the afternoon cause I have an early flight the morning after.”

“What? You’re leaving me?” Shelby gasped. “Going off to return to your rockstar life in America while I’m just supposed to sit here and wait until we can hang out again? And yeah, I’ll have to check my calendar but I’m almost positive we’ll be free during that time.

“Perfect,” he said. They both turn the attention back to the game. Charlie wasn’t even running to the ball but there was no doubt that the smile on her face was showing that she wasn’t having fun.

Shelby sighed, Calum turning to give her a concerned look. “I’m going to have to buy her ice cream after this. Is that okay with you?”

Calum nodded. Though he was invited to this on such short notice, he didn’t really care that he did have a few things he needed to go to that he might be arriving late. He was the one who told her that he had no plans for the rest of the weekend and that was just purely him getting way too excited and caught up in the moment. And does he care? Not at all.


	6. Chapter 6

“He texted,” Ashton said, putting his phone down. “He’ll be here in about ten minutes.”

The bar was starting to gain more customers as the sky grew darker. Three fourths of the party sat at a high table in the corner, sipping on waters, not wanting to start their last free weekend festivities without the remaining quarter.

“I say we order a round of shots while we wait,” Michael suggested. Luke seemed to be the only one to perk up at the suggestion but Ashton shot it down quick.

“We got ten minutes, I’m sure we can wait that long,” he said. He mindlessly played with the lemon that sat at the bottom of his glass.

Luke pouted and rested his chin on the table. “I just want some alcohol.”

“Blame Calum for being late,” Michael said.

“Hey, he could’ve been busy with something.”

“Yeah, no. It’s not like he did anything earlier today,” Ashton said. “I texted him when I woke up and he said he was probably just going to sit around the house.” He put his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his fist. “Though he is allowed to not tell us things, it does hurt our bro trust.”

“Probably has another girlfriend,” Luke mumbled. He looked at his friends' unamused faces. “What? You know he likes his shit private. Remember that one girl he finally introduced us to and we found out that they were dating for like three months beforehand?”

“As right as you are, Luke, I do think we have gotten a little less oblivious to his love life,” Ashton commented.

Michael buried his head in his hands, groaning. “Ash, please don’t remind me.”

“Hey, it’s your fault for going to his house uninvited,” Ashton pointed.

“Oh c’mon, he wouldn’t give me a key if he didn’t want me to come uninvited!” Michale exclaimed, “besides, I thought he would act more reserved, especially for his roommate.”

Luke looked up from his task of crushing the remaining ice in a glass of water, catching onto what they were talking about. “Wait are we talking about that one time when Mike walked in on—“ 

“Yes, and it’s done. Never happened,” Michael cut him short, clearly not wanting to relive the memory.

“Great timing,” Ashton commented, looking over at the entrance, “here he comes.”

As if I’m cue, Calum sits down next to them. His cheeks were red but not in a blush kind of way, but more like he was in the sun for a while. “Okay, question,” he started out. Almost immediately he heard a few “oh no’s” from his friends. “How does one, me, flirt well enough to ask a friend to go on a date.”

Luke gasped, smacking Michael’s shoulder. “Surprise, surprise! There’s a girl.” He ignored Calums look. “ As much as I predicted this. I’m going to get a drink.” He slid off the chair, walking over to the bar.

“Alright, what friend?” Ashton questioned as soon as he saw Luke coming back with a tray of shots. “And if you say me, well all you have to do is just ask, but I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“Uh, well no one actually,” he said uncertainly. He didn’t want to confess that he had actually spent the whole day with his dream girl. That buying ice cream for the woman and her kid after the soccer game was not only one of the highlights of his day, but that he was sure that he may even like her even more than he did before. “It was just a question,” he dismissed.

“Alright well…” Ashton raised a small glass from the tray. “To our last weekend with just the boys!” The four all knocked back their shots, ready for the night to begin.

***

“Cal, c’mon just admit that you’re drunk,” Luke whispered. His head rested lazily on his friend's shoulder. The two sat drunkenly on the sidewalk outside of the bar. “Mo’s on her way, she said she wouldn’t mind taking you back.”

“No,” Calum shook his head, “tonight is for the boys!” He cheered softly. “And if it comes down to it, I’ll call my mum.”

“How about you call her now so you don’t wake her up when she’s already asleep,” Luke suggested. He wasn’t as obliviously drunk as Calum was, but he was to the extent that he knew it was unsafe to drive home.

“How late is it?”

“It’s like eight thirty,” Luke said, shoving his phone back into his pocket and looking back up at the darkened sky.

Calum looked over at Luke confused. “How the hell?”

“Don’t talk about it— you’re making me feel old.”

“Not as old as Ashton, though… he’s like our dad…” Calum trailed off, “but not.”

“Cal, call your mum.” Luke said, no longer suggesting. His own girlfriend would be there soon and he wasn’t looking forward to waiting long for Calum.

“I’m calling her,” he mumbled. Going through the contacts on his phone, Luke noticed him miss a few clicks and calling someone completely different. “Hey mum?” He called unaware.

Luke heard some talking on the other side and he knew all too well that that was not Calums mother’s. He looked down at Calum expectantly waiting for him to realize his mistake.

“Can you pick me up? I drank and Luke is babying me,” Calum continued on. 

Finally, Luke took away the phone and put it on speaker phone, while also peeking at the contact name. “Shelby F***in…” and then the rest wasn’t shown. Hopefully whoever he was calling wouldn’t embarrass him about a drunk call. 

“Do you need me to pick you up and take you home?” He heard the girl in the other line ask. 

“Thank you mum,”

“Calum, I’m— y’know what? Just stay safe where you are and send me your location. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” was all he heard before the line went dead.

Luke waited a few seconds of silence before he opened his mouth. “Who’s Shelby?” he asked, “is she your girlfriend?”

Calum smiled thoughtfully. “Not yet. I want her to be though.” A few words that Luke wasn’t actually expecting to hear.

A car pulled up and the two saw Luke’s girlfriend roll down the window. “Hey, can I get a shake? Extra fries? Maybe one of those kids toys for my boyfriend?”

Luke smiled at her but gave off a playful glare. “You interrupted, we were having boy time!”

“Aren’t you missing an Ashton and a Michael?” She yelled back. He stuck out his tongue and stood up. “Oh I see, I’ll just go back home and leave you two idiots sitting on the sidewalk alone.

“I didn’t even do anything!” Calum whined back.

Luke ignored him and walked up to the car. “Hi,” he spoke softly, smiling down at her and leaving a soft kiss on her lips. 

“Hey, you,” she breathed out. She glanced back towards the wasted Calum. “What’s up with him?”

“His girlfriend is picking him up soon.”

“Since when did he…” Mo trailed off, Luke’s shrug answering the question already. “Alright, well we should stay until he’s safe.”

Soon, the small minivan that Calum was in just hours before, celebrating a little girls soccer game, came up to a complete stop behind Mo’s car.

Luke had to do a double take when he saw the woman get out of the car. If he wasn’t under alcohol's influence at that moment, he would’ve thought that that was Calums celebrity crush kneeling in front of him, trying to get him up.

“You’re not my mum,” Calum was quick to state the obvious towards the woman.

She looked over at Luke and Mo who were watching from afar. “Hi, I’m Shelby, a friend of Calums. Uhm, I don’t actually know where he lives.”

“Luke,” Mo spoke quietly enough for him to hear, “that’s her. That the girl that he’s always talking about.”

“What do I say?” Luke replied, “I would say she just take him but we don’t know her.”

“Excuse me?” Shelby spoke up. “I don’t mind taking him back to my place. I have a spare room that he could sleep in till morning.”

Luke glanced back and forth between Mo and Shelby, desperately wanting the questions to be diverted to anyone but him. “Calum!” He called out, “can you recite your address?”

“Nine… oh?” He thought for a moment, clearly struggling. “There’s a five somewhere in there.”

Luke shook his head, “that’s his zip code in L.A.” he said to Mo. “Hey, buddy, wanna go home with the nice and sweet Shelby here?” 

Calum looked up at her and nodded. She smiled back down at him. 

“Alright, well,” Luke opened the passenger door and waved goodbye at them. “You kids don’t get too crazy, alright? It was nice meeting you Miss Shelby, I hope we can meet at a more appropriate setting next time.” He then shut the door leaving him and Mo in the quiet of the car. 

Calum stood next to the athlete in a daze. Obviously he’s looked at pictures of the woman when he’s drunk and a little desperate, but seeing her in person at this time of night, while he was still drunk, made his brain go all kinds of crazy.

“Hey Shelby?” He said, waiting for the girl's attention. “You’re really pretty.”


	7. Chapter 7

“And then you just whisk the egg whites till it starts to peak,” Martha Stewart’s voice spoke through the phone. Calum has replayed multiple parts in the video enough times to realize that he had messed up the recipe. He kept glancing at his phone. Perhaps pizza would be the easier escape? No. Easier isn’t what he’s going for. After semi embarrassing his drunk self in front of Shelby just a week prior, he’s trying to go for the more “I have my life together look”.

He moved to the pantry looking for anything else to make. He grabbed a box of spaghetti that he probably forgot about till now. It hadn't expired and he had pasta sauce in the fridge. It would work. He got a pot of water on the stove to boil. The food coming together nicely as he got the dishes out and everything ready for his guests.

Eventually Calum heard a soft knock at his door and a few rings of the doorbell. He opened the door wide and made eye contact with the little girl pushing the bell like it’s the most exciting thing on earth. 

“You may need to press the button a couple more times for good measure,” he said, not entirely expecting her to actually continue. He then looked up at Shelby, taking note of how she looked a little more dressed up than the previous times they'd met, “you look nice.” He gestured for them to come in.

“You too.” She smiled, following him to the kitchen. “Now we did bring some ice cream as a thank you for inviting us.” She brought out a bag that held a small tub of what looked like just regular vanilla. Calum pointed to the fridge where she then put it in the freezer. “And I also want to make sure that we’re not on awkward ground considering last weekend.”

Of course she brought up just what Calum was hoping to avoid. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about that,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I can guarantee you that I’m a very responsible drinker.”

“It’s fine, I’m kinda flattered that you called me even though it was probably a drunk mistake,” she said. “It was nice to meet Luke and his girlfriend as well.”

“Oh, well I’m kinda glad I called you as well. And Luke won’t stop bothering me about the fact that I drunk dialed you,” he laughed, “I kinda talk about you a lot, in a very non-creepy way.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute, otherwise I’d take that in a very creepy way,” she laughed, smiling at him.

Calum smiled back, then looking down at Charlie who seemed a little bored. It was weird to see her without her usual bubbly energy radiating from her. He then looked back up at Shelby, speaking up, “so I made pasta for dinner and I was wondering if you two wanted to watch a movie or something?” He watched as the kid’s eyes lit up. “C’mon, lets go get something ready to play,” he said, leading her into the living room.

“Are you really seriously letting her pick the movie?” Shelby asked.

He turned on the tv and got to the right input, “of course.” He sent another small smile her way before acknowledging the kid. “Okay, with the power invested in Netflix, we have many movies to choose from.” He handed the remote to Charlie who was giggling uncontrollably. “You now wield the power of choosing said movie.”

“Calum you don’t know what you’re doing,” Shelby whispered next to his ear, “She’s going to play Moana and recite all the words till she’s passed out.”

“And what’s wrong with that? Let the kid sing some dang Moana till she’s passed out.”

Shelby chuckled to herself, watching her daughter barely containing the excitement for the same movie she’s watched probably over a hundred times. Then there was Calum who somehow also shared that childlike energy. From the many times they’ve hung out, it was obvious to her that he was nothing like she imagined him to be. Not only was he far from her expectations, but he wasn’t anything close to any of her ex’s. Maybe she could try something with him. And since it appears that he doesn’t despise her daughters presence. Perhaps she can get somewhere with him.

“Shelby,” Calum said, interrupting her thoughts. “Are you ready to have dinner?” He asked. She looked over at Charlie who was not so subtly nodding.

“Yeah.” She nodded back at Charlie, knowing the only reason the kid was so eager to eat was for the ice cream afterwards. 

“I’ll go get it ready to serve,” he said. Shelby followed him back into the kitchen. Watching him as he laid out the plates. “How much,” he asked as he got to her plate, then to Charlie’s plate, then he just put the desired amount onto his own. “There’s tomato sauce. I also have parmesan if you’d like.”

She put a generous amount of sauce on both her and Charlie’s plate. Suddenly, hearing the singing coming from the room over. “Sounds like she started without us,” she laughed.

“Guess we better join her,” he laughed as well. Carrying his and her plate and leading her back into the living room, setting down the plate of pasta on the coffee table right in front of the kid. 

He sat down and Shelby sat right next to him. The three just ate spaghetti as they watched the animated girl sing “how far I’ll go.” Even when they’ve finished their plates, the only one who was ready for dessert was Charlie. As the food began to catch up with them, he noticed Shelby's eyes fall more slowly with each blink.

“Hey Char,” he looked over at the girl who was waiting for the next song to start. “How about you and I open up that ice cream and help ourselves huh?”

The girl jumped out of her seat on the couch and went racing to the kitchen. He slowly stood up, hoping not to disturb Shelby. He wasn’t very hungry for ice cream so he only got out one bowl for the kid. 

“So, Charlie,” Calum started, “besides your mom, you’re like the big woman in the house, right?”

“Duh.” She nodded, watching him scoop some more ice cream.

He pushed the bowl towards her and gave her a spoon. He leaned against the counter and whispered like he was telling her a secret. “Well, when I get back from the states in a couple months, I kinda really want to take your mother on a date, hoping that she’ll be into me of course.”

“Yes, do it.”

“Really? Cause I’ve only been slightly considering it. Like just maybe I’ll do it-“

“Please, please, please be with my mommy. You’re like a gazillion times better than the other guys.”

He did his best to ignore that comment. Knowing that none of that was any of his business. But, he was glad he got the okay from Charlie. It was weird how much he liked the little kid. If she had a problem with him then he would likely take a step back from Shelby.

“So, back to Moana?”

They both went back to the couch, not really missing that much except part of the “We Know the Way” song. 

At some point after the shiny song, Calum noticed Shelby slowly rest her head on his shoulder. He didn’t want to think too far into it as she was obviously just starting to fall asleep. But when his arm instinctively wrapped around her, he didn’t know what to think as his arm was clearly on a different page than him.

He glanced over at Charlie who was completely mesmerized by her bowl of ice cream. Not many of his friends around his age have children, and if they did, they were definitely too young to point out distinct physical features. But Charlie was five. She shared the same smile as her mother, along with her dark brown eyes. However, the dirty blonde hair was different, along with the tiny freckles displayed across her cheeks, contrasted greatly to Shelby's all around even skin and her dark brown, almost black, hair. Though it was far from any of his business, he did wonder about Charlie’s dad. Whether he was still a part of her life? What is his current relationship with Shelby? And does Calum actually have a chance to have a relationship with Shelby that is a little more than friends?

“Calum,” Charlie called, breaking him out of his thoughts. “What’s your favorite song from the movie?”

He looked back towards the television, watching Maui doing something, in all honesty he had lost focus in the movie and had no idea what’s happening at this point. “What’s that one You’re Welcome song?”

“You’re Welcome!”

“Yes, it’s that one.” He smiled, looking back at the screen, the movie continued on. 

“Calum?” He heard a soft whisper, looking down at Shelby who was now curled up against him. Her eyes were slowly blinking away the sleep. 

“Yeah?” He whispered back, not wanting to change the feel of that moment.

She was silent for a moment or too, convincing him that she fell back asleep until she asked, “what time is it?”

He gently took his phone out his pocket, the screen displaying just about 9:30. He knew she was thinking about getting ready to leave, despite how much he wanted her to stay. The movie was over around this time around this time and Charlie actually did sing till she passed out. Shelby got up and his side wasn’t as warm as it was before.

“What time is your flight tomorrow?” She asked, yawning a bit. She gently woke Charlie and picked her up.

“Six, but I’m leaving at around five-ish,” he replied.

She nodded, “I have a game in San Diego in April. Afterwards, if you’re free, I’d like to drive up to LA to see you?” She asked, already making her way to the door.

“I’d like that,” he said.


End file.
